


Aftermath

by AnnaOnTheMoon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Post-First War with Voldemort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26470447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOnTheMoon/pseuds/AnnaOnTheMoon
Summary: What happened while the dust settled?
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Aftermath

Remus Lupin was kept in a ministry holding cell for 48 hours after the death of his best friend and his wife. His other best friend, Sirius Black, had only been in the cell next door to his for a fleeting three hours before he had been rushed away and never returned. And his husband....his husband was waiting in a holding cell along another corridor, the one they reserved for the Death Eaters. 

Remus was ushered into the courtroom for questioning and after a character statement by his old head of house and confirmation from Albus Dumbledore that Remus had been working for _him_ and not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named he was released. He was denied the chance to see his husband or his best friend.

He fought the law on all sides. He wanted his husband released, and he wanted guardianship over Harry Potter. After all, he was the only surviving Marauder. Surely, he should be the one to raise Harry. There weren’t exactly any other candidates – Frank and Alice were residing in St. Mungos, their son the ward of Frank’s mother. Sirius’ girlfriend had disappeared, though Remus wasn’t entirely sure if he would have trusted her. There were other order members who could have stepped in - the Weasley’s had a child around the same age as Harry, but they also had six othert children including a new baby. James’ parents were both dead and Lily’s only living relative was her muggle sister and her husband, a man who Lily had once said she wouldn’t trust with a dog, let alone a child.

He was denied on the grounds of his Lycanthropy and his husband being a Death Eater. Remus pleaded for his husband’s release. He _wasn’t_ a Death Eater. He never had been. Severus had been recruited by Dumbledore when they were still students and _asked_ to spy as a Death Eater. They hadn’t been able to prevent his taking of the dark mark, but Dumbledore had promised both men he would find a way to remove the mark once Voldemort was dead. But because Severus had the dark mark on his arm....no release until his trial, and they weren’t exactly forthcoming with scheduling the trials. 

One week after Remus was released, Severus was taken to Azkaban. Remus continued to argue for his husband’s release or at least for him to be kept at the ministry until his trial, but they had decided to move all confirmed Death Eaters to Azkaban for their “safety”. Remus had been handed a package containing a set of black teaching robes, a pair of dragon hide boots, the rest of Severus’ clothing, a pocketwatch, and a golden wedding band inscribed with “always”. Remus placed the pocket watch in the pocket of his waistcoat and slid the wedding band on top of his own ring, bearing the inscription “forever”. Their wedding band etchings echoed the tattoos they had decided to get after Remus had turned seventeen. Remus’ tattoo read “forever” in Severus’ spindly script and Severus’ matching tattoo was in Remus’ untidy scrawl. Remus ran his fingers over the word daily, hoping that his love would transmit through the magical tattoos and replace the gloom of Azkaban.

Severus sat on the tatty mattress in his cold, damp cell on the isolated island of Azkaban and felt all the dredges of happiness slowly get sucked out of him. His first kiss with Remus when they were fifteen, their first date, that first awkward fumbling when neither boy had known what they were doing only that they _needed_ to touch each other, the first time Remus said ‘I love you’ and he had stuttered his response, Remus’ seventeenth birthday – his chest suddenly gave a soft flare of warmth. _Remus_. He softly smiled in momentary elation. His heart felt full and warm...until the dementor patrolling his block swooped by. 

Two months later, Severus finally had his trial. Remus stared as they led his shackled and barefoot husband into the courtroom clad in the dingy black and white striped prison robes. His black tresses, nominally greasy from potion fumes, hung limp and matted. His face was paler than usual and his cheeks were hollow. Remus pressed against his chest and saw a tiny smile as Severus looked up and met his husband’s eyes for the first time in nearly ten weeks. 

The first thing Remus did when they flooed home after the trial was to tug off the prison garb and toss it into the fireplace. He gasped as he looked at his husband and saw the fresh tattoo of his prisoner number on his collar. He rubbed at his own collar where his Werewolf Registry tattoo resided. Now they had two matching tattoos. Remus tugged Severus into the bathroom and after discarding his own clothing, he pressed Severus against his chest in the bath, washing off the grime and stench of the prison. He kissed Severus’ neck and lightly bit down. Severus moaned in response and moved his hips against his husband’s. It had been too long for the couple. Remus slowly and gently prepped Severus and entered him with his arms still wrapped around his chest as they laid in the bath together and made love. 


End file.
